Oh boy. Coco's first night at home was ROUGH! She slept all day in her fancy day gown (Petit Ami) but the night was a different story! I was feeding her every hour from 10pm until 2am and all she did was scream in between. We tried swaddling, shhhushhing, holding her on the side, burping, changing the diaper...nothing worked. Then we realized. She needed to be elevated. The minute we did that? She slept like a log. Hello, this is what happened with Landon!

We were so tired we forgot!

How about you guys? Newborn sleep dramas on your end? What has been your best baby sleeping solution?

My best tips are:

1)Keep baby in your room (in a bassinet) the first few months so you can feed them and soothe them without being far away.2)Keep a swing (I like the Fisher Price Aquarium swing), in your room for the nights when baby is screaming, Coco sometimes sleeps in it!3)Make sure you get some good burps out of baby or a screamfest will ensue!4) Mylicon or Gripe water- helps relive gas!5)Swaddling, you need to become an expert swaddler so that baby will sleep well! ** Towel from Pottery Barn Kids with Coco's name personalized on it!

Coco's entry into the world has been nothing but fabulous. Her lungs were perfect so we were given the go ahead to have her early (precaution). When I arrived at the hospital, Louis Vuitton bag and Fabulous BYOG gown, they knew they were in for it. I wanted to wear my gown into surgery but the nurses said they didn't think the doctors would let me wear it to the C section, but that I was so cute they'd ask.

Guess who got to wear it! So there I am on the table with my pink fuzzy socks, fab gown and make up ready. I wanted Coco to see her mother in all her glory!

When Coco came out I was shocked by dark hair! Of course I have since seen my baby pictures and hello! Dark hair! (Really explains my need to get "blonded" on "root day").

The fact that they let us hold Coco (no this is not her full name you can guess if you like), and be with her non stop was such a complete change from when Landon was whisked off the NICU for 52 days.

I cried with joy when I heard her and saw her, I wasn't at all afraid before the C section, I knew everything would go perfectly. We said a prayer before surgery with our pastor, Aunt Rere, hubby and our friend Rob. I was calm and ready.

Back in my room, my mom gave me a gift basket with pink pearls. Well Miss Coco had her first nursing with me wearing pink pearls. She was a champion latcher and felt so good in my arms! Coco has long fingers and gorgeous hands. Every move she makes is like a woman getting a manicure or someone doing water ballet. She is all girl. Graceful and gorgeous with her tiny pink mouth and dark blue eyes, she stole my heart.

As I nurse her, her favorite thing to do is hold my hand like we're girlfriends out on a shopping trip together. I imagine we will be lunching and shopping very soon.

I have already started singing "You are my Coco, my only Coco...you make me happy...when skies are gray..."

But really all I can think about when I think of Coco is Anne Margret in Bye Bye Birdie. Singing "How Lovely To Be Woman"....

"When you're a skinny child of fourteen,Wide with braces from ear to ear,You doubt that you will ever be appealing.Then Hallelujah! You are fifteenAnd the braces disappearAnd your skin is smooth and clearAnd you have that happy grown-up female feeling.How lovely to be a woman,The wait was well worth while;How lovely to wear mascaraAnd smile a woman's smile.How lovely to have a figure,That's round instead of flat;Whenever you hear boys whistle,You're what they're whistling at.It's wonderful to feelThe way a woman feels;It gives you such a glow just to knowYou're wearing lipstick and heels!How lovely to be a womanAnd have one job to do;To pick out a boy and train himAnd then when you are through,You've made him the man you want him to be!Life's lovely when you're a woman like me!How wonderful to knowThe things a woman knows;How marvelous to wait for a dateIn simply beautiful clothes!How lovely to be a womanAnd change from boys to men,To go to a fancy nightclubAnd stay out after ten.How lovely to be so grown-up and free!Life's lovely when you're a woman like me!"

Thank you so much for all your prayers and warm wishes. Coco came into the world and we are in LOOOOOVE with her!!!

I know you want to know what Landon thinks of Miss Coco. Landon met Coco the day after she was born and I felt that he was "cordial" (we are dying laughing over this perfect choice of words). He wasn't disagreeable, or mean...just cordial. He was curious and oh so glad to see his mama.

I had a picture of Landon on my hospital room door, and on her bassinet. I made sure I wasn't holding her when he came in and greeted him with a big smile. We gave Coco his gift for her (a dolly) and we lifted him up to see her in the bassinet. He was curious and confused, as if to say "she's a real person?"

We then gave him a gift from her; a puzzle. He was thrilled and started playing with it right away. Mom ("Mimi") held Coco near by and the crying sounds shocked Landon a little but overall he was a champ. He wanted to leave soon after and get a hamburger and french fries with his Dad.

I have my Mom with me during the day and Aunt Rere (sis in law supreme) and Brett alternating nights with me. I should be leaving the hospital soon! More on Coco in another post but so far I am most amazed by her long fingers. (I have stubby ones for my height!) She is so graceful in the way she moves her hands and likes to hold my finger when she breast feeds like we're girlfriends shopping together! Isn't she fabulous?

Okay so I am not sporty so the whole March Madness thing goes right over my head....however...I am watching Idol and I must predict ADAM LAMBERT as the winner! I have been riveted by his performances and even gotten the chills when he sings. This is how I felt about Kelly Clarkson when I heard her and Ruben Studdard as well as Fantasia and David Cook.

You can be a good singer, but to win idol I think you have to have the whole package. Looks....CHECK!

Uniqueness...Check!

...and of course a great voice. Check Check. When he sang Michael Jackson's Black or White I was floored. Amazing. And his version of Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash? Brilliant and current!!! Take it all the way Adam!

It's nice to have something fun to talk about amidst taxes, last minute script re-writes and paying for preschool!

Change is good. Change is for the best. I didn't mean it before but now I DO! Since nanny Lulu has come to work for us I feel like my life has changed. Her first day she was seeing the details that old nanny had overlooked. She asked:

"Can I clean the cat food bowls Mrs? These are yucky." I said "Sure!"...then she said: "you don't want me to use the same sponge I use for your plates for the cat food bowl...you have a separate pet sponge right Mrs?"

I almost started getting weepy. "No Lulu, we need a separate pet sponge!"

Truth is old nanny was not a good house cleaner. It drove me batty. She would lay clean clothes to dry on trash can lids. She would start my bathroom, forget to finish cleaning it and start to leave for the day. She would forget to dilute the floor cleaner for the kitchen and our throats would be soar from the fumes!

One day with Lulu and she pulled enough dog and cat hair out from under the couch to make a whole new animal. Our house looked so clean hubby felt like a new man. Best of all, within minutes she had Landon laughing his head off. He laughed more her first day than he has in a year with old nanny.

So Mary Poppins has come to work for me and I am truly blessed. I only hope I can keep her forever!!!!

Whether you are pregnant, have kids, or know someone who does, the best thing you can do is give a child a book. If you really want to be fabulous though, just go to Amazon and Ebay and google the childs name. One search and look what I found for Coco!!!

Coco the Carrot!

"Coco the carrot is unhappy living in the vegetable bin so she climbs out of the fridge and creates a fashionable green hat for herself. "Splendid! Now I am ready to see the world," she says, and then leaves on a cruise ship bound for Paris. During a dinner with the captain, the guests admire her hat, and she promises to make one for each of them. The next day, the cook spies her sunning herself on the deck and decides to add her to his soup. A wild chase ensues during which Coco falls overboard, and after a long, lonely night floating at sea, lands on a tropical island. There she makes friends with a monkey and together they create hats, sending them in bamboo hatboxes into the ocean. The recipients of the boxes are delighted. Coco and the monkey go on to have a successful career in Paris."Could that be more fabulous? Look what else I found?

My mom is arriving today and it could not come soon enough! I HAVE SLOOOOOOOOOOOWED down. I'm tired, heartburny and unable to do anything! Baby is now 6 1/2 pounds and next week she will BE HERE! I couldn't be more thrilled.

My nanny gave her two weeks notice on Saturday...oh yes...I am giving birth (c section in about 10 days)...I FREAKED. I was angry and panicked. Her reason? She can't handle Landon let alone him and baby Coco. I had a new nanny lined up in less than 24 hours (yes I am type A thank GOD); I have been suspecting nanny couldn't handle the job for the last few months.

New nanny has way more energy and is sassy and already knows Landon. She has worked with twins and triplets so this should be cake! Landon is easy peasy, so she should be fine.

I was ready to burn old nanny at the stake until I talked to her when she showed up for work. She's tired. She's forgetting things. She feels like she can't handle the job and you know what? I appreciate her honesty. I don't want something to happen to Landon. I told her it was okay and we would work it out. Keeping it ending on an up note. She's been with us since Landon was 3 months and he is 2 1/2. She's been great and trustworthy and a blessing to us. I got over my anger and feel like this is all supposed to happen. A blessing in disguise. New nanny Lulu starts next week and I cannot wait. I have peace of mind.

I hate change but hating it is not going to stop it. Really this is what's best for everyone. I have decided to roll with it (easy to do at my size!!!)

On an even happier note we got into the preschool of our choice! Many of you know what a feat this is, but how could you NOT let Landon in? Come on!! LOL.

This is Reese at the premiere of a cartoon movie she did the voice over for. She gets it right almost (Oscar dress this year was weird....) all the time! The dress, the hair...pure perfection. Love her. Have I told you they are making Legally Blonde 3? Not with Reese though...it follows Reese in high school but she's producing!

As you saw from my other post, I am a BIG fan of Philosophy's Amazing Grace. Love the smell... so fresh and clean! I was sitting in the tub the other night and read the bottle. I was shocked at the depth of meaning on my shampoo and conditioner bottles!!!.

"How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. And so, it is with life, which for many of us becomes one gigantic test followed by one gigantic lesson. In the end, it all comes down to one word. Grace. It's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light."

Wow. That's the lesson right? There are going to be peaks and valleys on the journey but it's how you handle life that counts.

The conditioner bottle is no less amazing (a little depressing though!):

"It is not "if" we will lose the things we love, it is "when". With some, the loss comes in a major catastrophic event. For most, love is surrendered one piece at a time...first childhood, a promising romance, the passing of a loved one, and finally a child who leaves home. But, as we lose, can we not gain a deep knowing that in the presence of grace, love is eternal."

Not to be outdone...the sea salt scrub bottle (I think this one is my favorite):

"If you only had one day to live how would you spend it? Would you smile or frown? Watch the sunrise or watch TV? Take a walk or take a nap? Say I love you or show you don't care? Consider this...you aren't guaranteed tomorrow so treasure this day as if it's not your last but the best day you will ever own."

Remember last December when hubby and I decided to do a kitchen update? I was living with everything piled up in the dining room and the paint smell was driving my pregnant self insane....Well, I survived the painting. And finally I am showing the "after'!We still need to do new counter tops and new floors but I think it's a pretty darn good start!

I think a dark, or black counter top and cork flooring would be nice...what do you guys think? I also need to pull in green or yellow from the dining room.

We removed one of the upper cabinets to create a more airy feeling. I also want to build banquette seating where the table is and get a new dark wood table and French cafe chairs...but alas we are on a spending freeze!

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"Sleep over"

If your kids are dying to have a "sleep over" but are too young, try having a pretend one. Invite the friend over and leave the kids with a baby sitter while you and the parents go out for dinner. Let the kids have their sleeping bags and PJ's and go to sleep. When they wake up in the morning asking where their friend is, say they just left!